About

$5,260

61

backers

My name is Tim Bereika, I am the executive chef at Secco Wine Bar and my goal is to bring the beauty and diversity of fresh pasta to the forefront of RVA's dining scene. Here's my story.

Shortly after
returning from our honeymoon in Italy, my gracious wife allowed me to head
straight back to Florence to embark on my culinary career. Working under Chef Pierre-Luigi Campi at Ristorante Ricchi I
began what would become a new passion in life: making fresh pasta from
scratch. I want to share my love of pasta with Richmond, but in my
current role my ambitions have been limited
by a lack of equipment.

I have four devices that I make my pasta with: a small, hand
crank pasta sheeter, a hand crank cavatelli roller, a chitarra and a rolling pin. They're more or less meant for a home cook and are
not suitable for a professional kitchen. They’ve served me well for the past few years, but these machines hold me
back from making enough pasta in the variety of styles that I’d like to share
with my customers.

Right
now the pasta making process is agonizingly slow and cumbersome. Our cozy kitchen wasn’t set
up to accommodate the orchestra of daily prep and pasta making that sprawls
across every available square inch of surface. I need a machine that allows me
the ability to produce pasta quickly using less space while maintaining the
highest quality and control over the finished product.

I
am asking for your help to raise enough money to purchase a professional tabletop pasta
extruder. The Arcobaleno AEX18 is an amazing machine. It would afford me the ability to crank out up to eighteen pounds an hour
in possibly up to 100 varieties. It’s quick, versatile, expertly engineered and produces exceptionally good
pasta. Here's an in-depth video of Alex Talbot from the Ideas in Food blog demonstrating the use of an Arcobaleno AEX18 Pasta Extruder:

You can also follow this link to view a short video of Marco Canora, Executive Chef of Hearth demonstrating the use of his Arcobaleno pasta extruder to food blogger Josh Ozersky:

With
the efficiency involved in using such a machine I'd be able to
expand the
fresh pasta offerings at Secco to include a pasta tasting menu, bulk
fresh pasta for retail sale, additional pasta dishes on our small plates
menu as well as several gluten-free pasta options. Since the Arcobaleno would belong to me personally, I would also use it to dial up the dishes that I have been
creating at my Meddle pop-up restaurants around Richmond. Sure, there are a few other businesses that make fresh pasta in Richmond, but mainly for retail. Your support of this campaign is not just an investment in a piece of equipment, but into my ability as a chef to turn flour and water into beautiful pasta, and beautiful pasta into a delicious plate of food.

Fresh
pasta is more than just flour and water; it's about family and
community. Please help me bring a little of this culinary heritage to the
forefront of the Richmond dining scene.

TESTIMONIALS

Joe Sparatta, Chef/Owner of Heritage in Richmond, Virginia

Chef Tim Bereika is hands down one of the most talented chefs in Richmond. He has been producing some of the finest pasta dishes I have ever tasted. When his campaign is fulfilled for the pasta extruder I can't even imagine how incredible meals will be at Secco. He's been able to produce amazing quality pasta with limited equipment. Secco will only increase in quality because of the efficiency of the extruder, which will allow him more time to create. This will be a wonderful addition to the Richmond restaurant community. I personally can't wait for Tim and his team to get their hands on this incredible piece of equipment.

Daniel Warshaw,Pasta Junkie, Friend and Secco Wine Bar Patron

Mike BrauneSous Chef, Secco Wine Bar

Risks and challenges

The biggest challenge will be learning how to use the machine though it's not really not a huge hurdle. I know a few folks in this industry who have experience using an Arcobaleno pasta extruder so I'm confident they'll give me some direction. Also, I plan on picking the machine up from the factory, which means I can get a full tutorial from the folks who designed and built it.

Once I understand the process of setting up and running the pasta extruder, the next step is honing in on the perfect mixture of ingredients to form the many types of doughs I plan to use. The recipes that I use now work well with traditional pasta making methods, but I'll have to start from scratch since the extruder will require completely different ratios of ingredients to form the proper dough for this type of pasta making process. There will be some trial and error to start, but at least I'm working with flour and water and not foie gras and truffles!

I love the dining scene in Richmond. It's exploding right now and diners have never been as curious about new food then at this very moment. With that said, I'm sure most of my customers will have no idea what "Pacherri" or "Garganelli" are and it'll be my job (and my pleasure) to enlighten them. No matter how exotic the style or unfamiliar the name, the appeal of fresh pasta is universal. The pastas we've featured on the menu at Secco--be it cavatelli, scarpinocc or a simple spaghetti--are always among our most popular dishes, and scarcely a week goes by when a customer does not ask if they're available for retail sale. With your help, we can meet that demand, expand our program, and introduce RVA diners to a new world of authentic, fresh pastas.